Monthly Archives: October 2018

So now that I’ve figured out the mystery of the Aalto tables I spent some time this afternoon going back and digging in as many old pictures of Fondren as I could find. The interior of this building really was … Continue reading →

So I’ve thought about this puzzle for a very long time, easily more than a decade, without seeing anything that could help solve it. Then recently I ran across an article by Rice Librarian William Dix in the December, 1949 … Continue reading →

These tables are the ones I mean: The persistent story–I’ve heard it for many years–is that they are by the Finnish designer and architect Alvar Aalto. They’re all over the library. They come in several sizes and you don’t have … Continue reading →

There have been lots of good days here in the last 106 years. This one was especially nice:

So all my tech is up and running again but I’m completely swamped today and I’m giving a talk this evening so I have no time. I swear I will get to a discussion of the library tables next week! … Continue reading →

I’m struggling with some technology difficulties tonight but I am able offer this beauty of Civil Engineering Professor and sometime Business Manager Jim Sims. Sims is in the middle and I don’t know who the other guys are but it’s really … Continue reading →

Y’all, I’m having a wild day and it isn’t over yet so those tables in the library will have to wait. In the meantime, this: Someone was using a box of H.A. Wilson‘s papers the other day and when I … Continue reading →

When you come to campus day in and day out for decades it’s easy to fall into thinking that nothing really changes much. But while it’s true that things change slowly at universities, the physical plant sometimes changes abruptly although … Continue reading →

Looks like Engineering professor Sam Davis (I think that’s him) is getting the rough of end this deal:   Bonus: I was in there the other day. It’s changed.

I found this little guide while looking for information about the gyroscopically controlled bicycle. It made me laugh. The title sounds like a warning, like “Be on the lookout for these characters!” I was also amused by the idea that … Continue reading →